New building and equipment for tots at Lantern Preschool

Lantern Preschool have moved into their spacious new rooms at the redeveloped Redland Parish Church halls at Redland Green this term and the children and grown ups are loving the new facilities.

Lantern Preschool have moved into their spacious new rooms at the redeveloped Redland Parish Church halls at Redland Green this term and the children and grown ups are loving the new facilities.

Liz Taberner, manager and lead professional at Lantern, said: “All the equipment is new. The church really felt that they wanted to invest in us and saw the value of our preschool. We are here to reach out to the local community, to help families in any way we can. As well as having the new space they felt the new equipment would help more families to come and take a look and stay with us.

“There is a separate entrance for the families to provide safety for them coming in. We have toilets right next to the room where the children play so that they can be independent, choosing when they go. The pegs in the cloakroom are their height so that they can learn to take their clothes off and on and hang them up. It’s all about independence and us as adults supporting them so that they can learn to do things for themselves.”

Deputy leader Jane Jones said: “We are still getting used to the space but I think it has so much potential in terms of children’s independence and development skills.

“We can see how the play is going from one area to another. We have see through boxes for the play equipment that children can access and we have more things available at any one time. Everything is child friendly and they can take things away and carry them round the room. You feel that you can step back and see where you can move the learning on next time.”

The newly developed halls at Redland Parish Church opened in November after a £2.4 million transformation of the dilapidated 1950s hall to a suite of three interconnected light and airy halls designed by Redland architects, O’LearyGoss. The Preschool has large windows facing the newly-landscaped garden which can be clearly seen inside the main room.

“I really love our big windows because we feel that nature is almost in here with us. We can just look outside and see the changing trees and our regular visiting squirrel.

“It’s made a lot of difference to us as teachers - the whole flow of the morning is so much easier being in here. We are able to see the children all round the room from wherever we are, which is great from a safety side but also to be able to watch what they do and see what they are interested in,” added Liz.

Three year old Florence is very impressed with the new play equipment, especially the glitter. She said: “I love everything because it’s so beautiful. My favourite things to play with are painting and dressing up. We have a Cinderella dress and Sleeping Beauty and cushions.”

Her friend Matthew prefers the bricks, explaining: “I like them for building. My favourite thing to build is vehicles.”

Lantern Preschool have regular intakes throughout the year and currently have space for more children. They can accommodate up to 24 children per day and are open each weekday morning. To enquire about places see the website http://www.lantern.org.uk or call 0117 946 4690

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